Barb’s Burblings

You know how I know that I’m the biggest dork ever? I couldn’t totally enjoy tonight’s Reaper because they picked the wrong presidential assassin to prove a point.
If you don’t know, the plot of Reaper is that the main character’s soul was sold to the devil before he was born, so now he has to track down people who have escaped from hell and send them back. In tonight’s episode, Sam (the main character) catches the soul at the beginning of the episode, but can’t return him to hell, as everyone in hell gets Halloween week off. The soul? Leon Czolgosz. And he’s around for the whole episode. Awesome!
The problem is that they have Leon as a character who’s crazy, and has gone through therapy, and is, in general, kind of wacky. But that so isn’t Leon Czolgosz. Czolgosz was an anarchist. He was the son of a Polish immigrant who worked in factories. His whole thing was the injustice in America. Does this sound like a wacky guy to you? No.
They should’ve had it be Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was awesomely wacky! He was in a free love commune, but still couldn’t get any, to the point that his nickname was “Charles Get-Out.” He wrote a poem called “Going to the Lordy” after he had been convicted, and suggested that it would make a great song. At his trial, he argued that he didn’t kill the President, he only shot him–it was the doctors who actually killed him. Obviously he was totally unhinged. He would’ve been perfect for this episode. I don’t think Czolgosz could’ve been wacky if he tried.
Seriously, Reaper writers. Just do a little research.

We recently moved into the Scorpio section–my sign–of the astrological calendar. MSN helpfully put up an article detailing the characteristics of Scorpions. (Not the band.) Let’s check out some of the highlights…

Pursuing such careers as a scientist, doctor, investigator, navigator, detective, researcher, police officer, business manager, and psychologist all suit the mighty Scorpion.

Yeah, not so much. Maybe a researcher. Business manager? Well, that’s kind of close to what my peers in the fifth grade foresaw me doing, namely, being an accountant for my rich husband. I have a couple of years to make that dream come true.

Many are fortunate and inherit money.

Hmm. I suddenly have decided to believe everything this has to say! Of course, I imagine I’ll inherit some money; this should be more specific with amounts.

Whatever the case - and regardless of the balance - they are great managers of their dollars and are not apt to overspend at all. Money means security and a sense of control, which is important to the Scorpion.

I’ll give them the control part; I definitely like feeling that I’m in control. But not apt to overspend? HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously, astrologers, take a gander at my credit card bill sometime.

Each sign has a part of the anatomy attached to it, making this the area of the body that is most sensitive to stimulation. The anatomical areas for Scorpio are the genitals, bladder, rectum, and the reproductive organs.

…

The ruling planet for Scorpio is Pluto.

Pluto isn’t even a planet anymore! What does that say?

Likes
Truth, facts, flirtation, long-time friends

Dislikes
The superficial, flattery, shallow people, being taken advantage of

Wait. We like friends? And don’t like being taken advantage of? Crazy! And we like truth and facts. I’m guessing Stephen Colbert isn’t a Scorpio.

This is, bar none, my favorite Daily Show clip ever. This is how I used to deal with the Burgian staff when I was Editor-in-Chief.

Last night I headed up to Baltimore to see the stage version of Hairspray. And it was fantastic. (Review) After a kind of crappy day, this was perfect. I knew the music already and had seen both movies, but man, it was still great. The musical was funnier than I remember the movie version of it, and as with other stage productions, I loved watching what ensemble members were doing. I can’t imagine being in that show; they’re dancing practically the whole time. Which only makes it more awesome. I’m seriously tempted to see it when it comes through DC next spring.
Of course, it was really neat seeing it in Baltimore. I was way up high, and the place wasn’t sold out, but man, was the crowd into it. There was a large school group sitting near me. I was kind of nervous about them, but they were great during the show. You should’ve heard the place after “Good Morning, Baltimore”–and any of the other numbers. Also amusing were the cheers after they named the high school (which, sadly, I can’t remember).
Anyway, very fun. And the guy playing Link was adorable. Bonus? I, by chance, parked at the perfect location, so when I got to my car, nobody was leaving the garage yet. I was out in no time. Sweet!
Bonus for you: Clips of the cast I saw
Edited to add: OK, people, don’t let me watch clips from Hairspray before bed. It just leads to me dancing around the bedroom, which is not conducive to sleep.

I had a heart attack on my way home from work today. I had a voicemail on my phone–it was my landlord, saying that he hadn’t gotten the rent yet. He wasn’t charging me a fee or anything, but could I, you know, pay? I flipped. I was having a panic attack on the bus. It was plausible that I hadn’t paid, seeing how I went out of town all last week and things with me have been somewhat hectic lately. So I got home and check my records and…I paid him. On the 23rd. Phew.
HUGE relief, because I spent the entire ride home trying to figure out where I was going to scrounge up rent money. I couldn’t remember how much I had in my checking account, and if I use that up, how can I make my car payment, which is due next week? Then I started trying to remember how much is available in my savings accounts, etc., etc. It’s one of those situations that I have enough available cash for my current expenses, but not an extra rent check.

Today my boy turns 30. So, happy birthday to the cutest, best boy in the world! One of these years, you’ll actually still be playing on your birthday.